SNP councillor for Fraserburgh & District Brian Topping and SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford have expressed delight at the new CCTV system for Fraserburgh.
Councillor Topping, who is Chairman of the CCTV Working Group and also represents Fraserburgh and District Community Safety Group, said the introduction of CCTV would not only benefit local businesses but also act as a powerful deterrent to potential troublemakers.
The move comes after discussions by the Fraserburgh Business Association, which gathered 1158 comments from the local community about their views on the town centre and how best to attract people back to it.
Currently funding has been secured to provide cameras at three sites - High Street/Cross Street, High Street/Broad Street and Shore Street/Kirk Brae.
In order to provide coverage at the two remaining sites, funding amounting to £15,000 will be required. Should funding beyond that amount be secured, the system has the potential for further sites to be added.
Commenting his Fraserburgh home, where he is currently recovering after a major operation, Cllr Brian Topping said:
"This has been a lot of hard work with many meetings to secure funding and visits to potential sites around the town but I am absolutely delighted that work has paid off.
"We can now say that CCTV is finally off the wish list and is about to become reality for Fraserburgh.
"Other towns with this facility have seen the benefit and I am sure that the same will be true of Fraserburgh once this powerful deterrent to potential troublemakers is up and running. This will be an important weapon in the police armoury in the fight against anti-social behaviour and criminal activity."
SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford added:
"Brian has put in a lot of effort to move this forward and I pay tribute to him and the other members of the Committee for achieving this.
"I'm in no doubt that this will greatly reduce incidences of crime or anti-social behaviour in the Broch."